Newspapers have existed for thousands of years dating back to the time of Julius Caesar, although perhaps not in the form that we are familiar with, which didn't exist until movable type was invented with the first modern newspaper being published in 1605.
A little more than four-hundred years is quite a run I'd say. The sad truth is that newspapers are becoming obsolete, both as a medium for information and as a business model. As nearly everyone has access to the Internet, television or radio, the printed newspaper just doesn't cut it.
Environmentalists can celebrate the reduction in the usage of paper. Impatient folks can jump for joy with not having to search through the paper for a story and the techies can be giddy with the advancements made during the last few years.
Newspapers hold some nostalgic value - I recall saving papers of important sporting events when I was younger - Championships by the Red Wings and Pistons, Presidential elections and record setting events. People naturally want to hold on to things and not embrace change, but that is, unfortunately, what we must do.
Newspaper circulation is down across the board, Senator Ben Cardin's proposed Newspaper Revitalization Act simply delays the inevitable. In a nutshell, the bill allows newspapers to become a tax-exempt non-profit organization, prohibited from making political endorsements.
What's puzzling is that Senator Cardin agrees with the same logic I'm using, but still finds the bill to have merit:
"We are losing our newspaper industry," Cardin said. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy."
Like anything else, the newspaper industry needs to find a way to reinvent itself. Many papers are voluntarily reducing circulation or moving to an online business model. Singling the industry out for something like this makes no sense. When looked at from afar, it can be substitued with other industries such as the horse and buggy manufacturers or steam engines - both of which seem preposterous - but are valid comparisons because all of the industries are obsolete from a technological perspective.
Perhaps it's the cynic in me, but I'm also skeptical of the political endorsement clause as well. Lets face it, the newspaper media isn't known for being unbiased in reporting stories, so the lack of an endorsement would simply make the message more covert. In addition, when government funds and tax-exempt status is placed upon a private industry or institution, it opens the door for corruption. A puff piece here or some extra digging here to receive extra funds and completely twist and distort the media's purpose from checking government to working hand in hand with them as a mouthpiece to further an idea. The same works for rich donors offering a tax-deductible donation for writing or not writing certain stories.
Corruption, technology, whatever - The newspaper industry should be allowed to succeed or fail on its own merits, rather than be supported while failing as that only enables the same poor decision making to continue and pushes back the inevitable failure.
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